It was among the first states to contemplate a future for autonomous cars, when the Legislature in 2012 authorized the Department of Motor Vehicles to devise rules for them. And the potential for hacking has led some doubters to paint a future in which bad actors “weaponize” a vehicle, taking over the controls with harmful intent. Multiply that by many more dicey scenarios and it makes sense that test vehicles’ current response to most obstacles is to just slow down.Īlthough the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says human errors cause 94% of serious crashes, motorists are reluctant to turn over the controls to computers, telling pollsters they prefer to drive a car, not interface with one. There is much to be perfected: how best to turn left in traffic, for example, a maneuver that bedevils many human drivers. And productivity could rise as motorists who now lose hundreds of hours idling in traffic each year are freed from the tyranny of paying attention and can legally text, work, answer email and even watch YouTube.īut it’s a significant step from allowing testing of automated cars in protected, supervised settings to unleashing them solo on the road, which experts say remains on a far horizon. They will never be afflicted with road rage, will not stop off after work for one too many and won’t nod off after endless hours on the road. In addition, computer-driven cars are expected to reduce fatalities. For many, autonomous vehicles will mean emancipation. “It could lead to a dramatic improvement in safety, a dramatic improvement for mobility for the elderly, for physically disabled people and for low-income communities,” he said. He cited his sister’s poor peripheral vision, which prevents her from driving. If properly managed, the coming driverless-car revolution could address other vexing problems as well, said Daniel Sperling, who directs the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis. And they’ll almost certainly operate on batteries (though some could run on zero-emission hydrogen fuel cells), helping motorists wean themselves off gasoline. They’ll be included in the fleets of ridesharing companies, reducing the number of personal cars on the road as the state transitions to electricity-powered transportation. Officials say automated cars will dovetail in two ways with greenhouse-gas-cutting policies in California, where the transportation sector belches out nearly half of the state’s climate-warming emissions. That kind of shuttle, and small delivery trucks, will likely be the first self-driving vehicles in wide use, employing GPS, 3-D imaging and other technology to process and respond to what their cameras see on the road: other cars, pavement markings, traffic signals, pedestrians, etc. What the driverless cars won’t feature: steering wheels, brake pedals and gas pedals.Īutonomous vehicles, mostly electric, are already here in a limited fashion-as a slow van, for example, to move people around a Bay Area office park. Part 4 Can California put cars in the rear-view mirror?Ĭalifornia is laying the groundwork for the next, slightly scary, phase in its push toward zero-emission transportation: self-driving cars packed with computers using finely tuned algorithms, high-definition cameras, radar and other high-tech gadgetry.Part 3 California steers toward a future of self-driving cars.Part 2 ‘Clean’ freight traffic is elusive as California rolls toward zero emissions.Part 1 Despite sharp growth in electric cars, vehicle emissions keep rising.Under the regulation, Tesla would need to report crashes and traffic tickets specific to the FSD, said Phil Koopman, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania. "If the capabilities of the features meet the definition of an autonomous vehicle according to California law and regulations, DMV will take steps to make certain that Tesla operates under the appropriate autonomous vehicle permits," the agency said. The department said it notified Tesla that it "will be initiating further review of the technology of their vehicles, including any expansion of the current programs or features".
SELF DRIVING CAR CALIFORNIA DRIVERS
The electric car company has been expanding the introduction of what it calls the "beta" of its advanced driver assistant software, sparking safety concerns by effectively allowing untrained drivers to test how well the technology works on public roads.Ĭritics say Tesla was able to avoid state regulatory oversight by telling the department that its FSD features do not make its cars autonomous.
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